Guide to the Constructs:
Attributes of Wives and Husbands

The information gathered about the attributes of the husbands and wives are shown in a series of tables. For browsers that enable collapsible outlines, you may collapse the subheadings.

Information about the social and psychological attributes of the husbands and wives was gathered during highly structured face-to-face interviews. Background information and information about the spouses' personality attributes and values were gathered from the spouses during our first interview with them, which took place approximately two months after couples were wed. If we thought that attributes might change systematically over time -- as, for example, might be the case with regard to gender role attitudes -- we gathered data concerning the attributes on multiple occasions. Husbands and wives were interviewed separately, out of earshot of one another, with the husband being interviewed by a male interviewer and the wife by a female interviewer. Participants answered questions directly put to them by the interviewer; they filled-out a number of paper and pencil questionnaires; and they sorted sets of cards with statements printed on them into categories reflecting the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the statements.

Social Background and Family History

The tables are sequenced such that the qualities that reflect the newlyweds' family background and placement within the socioeconomic system are shown first (Table 1a). Most of this information was gathered during our initial interviews, with the information about the marital history of members of each spouse's family of origin being updated during the telephone interviews carried out in fourth phase of the study.

Physical Characteristics

The second table (Table 1b) summarizes data on the spouses' individual's physical qualities. The two interviewers, one male and one female, independently rated both the husband and wife with regard to three physical characteristics -- physical attractiveness, physique, and grooming -- immediately after each of the face-to-face interviews using nine point likert-type scales. Thus, these ratings were made at three points in time - when the respondents were newlyweds, after one year, and after two years.

Self-rated Desirability

A single question, pertaining to participants' estimates of their own desirability as a mate at the time they first met their partner, is set forth in the table to the right.

Personality

Two standard measures of personality were administered to the spouses when they were newlyweds: The Cattell 16 PF (Cattell, Eber, & Tatsuoka, 1970 ), Spence, Helmreich, and Stapp (1974) the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). The PAQ was also filled-out by the participants during Phase 4. During Phase 4, the participants also sorted a series of trait descriptors according to how well the traits describe their nature, and rated the salience of various types of motivations.

The Cattell Personality Factor Questionnaire

Cattell's 16PF (Cattell, et al., 1970) was administered in the PAIR Project during the first interview when the respondents were newlyweds. As shown in Table 1d, the scale includes sixteen subscales (primary factors), 15 of which pertain to personality characteristics. Data regarding the 16th factor, intelligence, was not gathered in the PAIR Project. Five second-order factors can be derived from the first-order factors. Appendix A includes fuller descriptions of each of the first- and second-order factors.

The Cattell measure is designed to provide a comprehensive, multidimensional assessment of personality. In developing the scale, Cattell reduced 18,000 trait words to a more manageable number, first by getting rid of synonyms and then through a series of factor analyses. These analyses resulted in 16 relatively specific personality traits and 5 broader traits. The scale also includes a scale measuring the extent to which respondents attempt to fake "good" and fake "bad" answers.

Further information about the scales, and how they are scored can be found in the 16 PF Administrator's Manual (IPAT, 1986).

Personal Attributes Questionnaire

The Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ), developed by Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp (1974), is a self-report questionnaire in which people are asked to indicate the extent to which they can be characterized in terms of various adjective traits. Thus, for example, a person responding to the questionnaire was asked to indicate, using a five-point scale, the extent to which they see themselves as independent.

The questionnaire consists of 24 items. Eight items represent characteristics that (a) men are stereotyped to possess to a greater extent than women, and (b) that are seen as desirable qualities for both men and women. The items are shown in the table on the right. These items were selected from a much longer list. In thinking about the construct "masculinity," it is important to consider it in terms of the whole cluster, rather than a single item. Thus, "superior" makes more sense when it is embedded within the other seven items than when is considered in isolation. Note that "masculinity" as defined by the PAQs means being "self-assertive" or "instrumental." Stereotypes of "masculine" are much more broad based, of course, and include physical qualities such as "strong," or "big," as well as demeanor (e.g., toughness).

Another eight items were chosen to represent the extent to which a person sees himself or herself as possessing characteristics that (a) women are generally seen possessing more than men; and (b) that are viewed as desirable qualities for both men and women. These qualities include such attributes as "kind, gentle, helpful, and understanding of others -- in short, "expressive" or "interpersonal" traits.

The other eight items were originally designed to measure another construct, "androgyny," but the measure has generally been abandoned. Most researchers keep the full 24-item scale intact even though they don't score the androgyny subscale.

Perception of Own Personality

As part of the Phase 4 data collection effort, participants were sent in the mail a questionnaire in which they indicated the degree to which each of a series of adjective traits was self-descriptive. The judgments were made using 7-point Likert scales, anchored on one end with "very much like me" and on the other with "not at all like me". The participants had, in each of the first three phases, indicated the extent to which they believed 40 adjective traits were characteristic of their spouse. Factor analyses of these data reduced the adjectives two main clusters, each roughly correspondent to two of the "Big five" personality traits (John, 1990).

The first, the one we labeled "Responsiveness" is similar to what others have called "Agreeableness;" the second, the one we labeled as "Contrary," is similar to what others have called "Emotional Stability," or "Negative Affectivity." The first cluster of adjectives, the one we labeled "responsiveness", includes adjectives such as pleasant, cheerful, friendly, enthusiastic, cooperative, considerate, and sincere. The second set, labeled, "contrariness," includes hot-tempered, quarrelsome, domineering, jealous, stubborn, fault-finding, and moody.

Salience of Various Social Motivations

The packet sent to respondents in the mail as part of the Phase 4 data collection effort included twelve statements, two pertaining to each of the social motivations listed in Table 1g. Each statement began with the phrase "I like to" which coupled with phrases like the following: "be with other people," "win arguments," and "avoid rejection by others." They were asked to indicate, using a Likert-type scale, the extent to which the statement was true of them. The statements represent six different social motivations which, according to Read, Jones, and Miller (1990) define three of the four major dimensions of Wiggins' (1979) circumplex. The three dimensions are gregarious-aloof, dominant-submissive, and quarrelsome-agreeable.

Measures of Gender Role Orientation

Several psychological measures, beyond the Personal Attributes Questionnaire described above, were included in the PAIR Project in an effort to account for patterns of marital behavior. The table to the right shows the variables pertaining to gender-role orientation.

Gender-Role Attitudes

Gender-role attitudes pertain to a person's beliefs about whether men and women ought to have different rights, responsibilities, and roles. People vary, for instance, in the degree to which they endorse ideas such as " when women work outside the home for pay that men should share equally in doing the household work," or that, "women should be able to work as equals with men in all businesses and professions."

In the PAIR project, gender-role attitudes were measured during the first, third, and fourth phases of data collection using a modified version of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale developed by Spence and Helmreich (1978). The 15-item questionnaire was modified to make it understandable to adults drawn from a broad spectrum of society (Atkinson & Huston, 1984). Thus, for example, "The intellectual leadership of a community should be largely in the hands of men" was changed to "The decisions about what is best for a community should be largely in the hands of men." The poles of the scale are generally labeled as "traditional" and "egalitarian".

Marital Role Preferences

During each of the four phases of the investigation, husbands and wives were asked (independently) to indicate for each of 26 household tasks (see Appendix B for the list) whether they would:

The extent to which each spouse wants to do things around the house as a couple is reflected in the proportion of tasks they indicate they prefer to do the task together (option # 3) rather than assign the task to the husband (option #1), to the wife (#2), or do the task equally, but independently (#4).

It is possible to combine the household task preference data with the activity data on household work, and analyze the importance of the correspondence between spouses' preferences and participation patterns. These analyses require that the activity data be combined with preference data at the level of individual activities. Since the data are not included in the database at the level of individual activities, the interested researcher will need to go to the databases for the individual phases and the integrated activity to create the relevant variables.

We found that the extent to which husbands and wives believe tasks should be done depends, to a large extent, on whether the task is one that has traditionally been assigned to wives, or to wives. Accordingly, tasks were divided into three groups, based on two criteria. First, we scanned the literature on division of labor to determine for each task whether it has been found to be carried out more by husbands, or by wives. Second, on the assumption that newlyweds have had little opportunity to negotiate their marital roles, we examined whether the task was done during Phase 1 significantly more often by husbands or wives (see Atkinson & Huston, 1984). All tasks that did not survive both of these screens were classified as "undifferentiated." The table below shows the way each of the 26 household tasks was classified.

Sex-typing of household task preferences was defined in terms of the extent to which the individual preferred that tasks we classified as female sex-typed be done by the wife and those we classified as male sex-typed be done by the husband.

Spousal preferences regarding the twenty-six household tasks were also grouped using cluster  analysis. A series of cluster analyses were done with the data gathered during all four phases of the investigation. These analyses yielded two major clusters of items, one consisting of day-to-day chores (e.g., making meals, doing the laundry), the other of periodic chores (e.g. mowing the lawn, car repairs). Two items pertaining to finances (budgeting, paying bills) consistently clustered together. Most of the household chores did not consistently cluster together.

Household Task Skills

Each year the individuals also rated their skill at performing the household tasks, using a 7-point Likert-type scale on which they indicated the extent to which they are able to do a good job at performing the task. The ratings of skill are broken down into the same categories as were preference ratings, making it possible to examine the way skills and preferences are related and how they predict aspects of household task performance. It is possible to combine the skill data with the activity data, and analyze the importance of skill in determining more specifically what husbands and wives do around the house. These analyses, however, require that the activity data be combined with skill data at the level of individual activities. The interested researcher will need to go to the databases for the individual phases and the integrated activity to create the relevant variables.

Sex-Typing of Leisure Interests

Participants were asked to imagine arranging their free time exactly the way they wanted. It was noted that there would be some activities they would like to do more than others. The respondents were instructed to think only about how much they liked the activity itself, not how much they liked the company of the people the activity was usually done with.

During the first three phases of the investigation, the respondents were asked to sort fifty leisure activities that were written on cards and place them into 7 categories reflecting the extent to which they liked or disliked the activity. (The 50 Leisure Activities are shown in Appendix C.)

The mailed questionnaires that were used in the fourth phase asked husbands and wives to rate the extent to which they liked or disliked the fifty leisure activities (apart from the company), using a 7-point Likert-type scale.

The activities men in the sample liked significantly more were identified as "male-preferred" leisure  activities, whereas those liked more by women were identified as "female-preferred" leisure activities. Activities liked equally by men and women were identified as non-sex typed. Scores were derived indicating the extent to which each spouse liked each of the three types of leisure activities.

Liking for Leisure Activities

There are many reasons, beyond assessing the degree to which a person's leisure interests are sex-typed, to determine what kinds of activities spouses like to do and what kinds they dislike. Couples differ, for example, in the extent to which their leisure interests are similar or different with regard to particular matters. The longitudinal nature of the data make it possible to examine whether spouses' leisure interests are interdependent. It is also possible to combine the preference data with the activity data, and analyze the importance of couples' doing activities they like, either together or apart. These analyses, however, require that the activity data be combined with preference data at the level of individual activities. The interested researcher will need to go to the databases for the individual phases and the integrated activity to create the relevant variables. A series of cluster analyses, carried out with the ratings of leisure preferences at each phase, produced 15 clusters of leisure activities. Variables reflecting spouses' liking for each type of leisure activity were created, as shown in Table 1l.

Social Attitudes

Howell's (1973) book, Hard Living on Clay Street, provides a characterization of the kinds of social attitudes characteristic of people who live hard lives. These include political alienation, a present-day orientation, focused more on surviving from one day to the next without much though to the future, and a strong sense of individualism and lack of involvement in the community. We examined several questionnaires to identify collections of items that would appear to capture: (a) political alienation, (b) present-day orientation; and (c) social isolation/individualism.

Dating History

The PAIR project participants were asked during the first phase of the investigation to indicate the age at which they started dating their eventual marriage partner exclusively; then, they were asked to estimate the number of people they dated on a casual basis in the 5 years previous to when they began dating their eventual spouse exclusively. Subsequently, they listed each person they dated regularly over the same 5-year period of time. For each person they listed they indicated how long they were involved with the person, how deeply they were involved (e.g., a "couple," "engaged"), whether or not they had sexual intercourse with the person, and whether they lived with the individual (and if so, for how long).

"Casually dating" was defined as going out with someone only once or twice. "Regular dating" partners were people the participant went out with more than a just a few times. They may have dated them steadily, or "seriously," or even been engaged to them. The chart above summarizes the data available on the spouses' dating histories.

Ease of Match

The "ease of match" of match variables reflect the ease or difficulty that an individual ought to experience in locating a compatible partner within the local field of available others (Houts, Huston, & Robins, 1996). We operationalized ease of match as the expected proportion of matches between a particular individual and the average of all individuals of the opposite sex within the sample for each type of preference (i.e., leisure, role preferences).⁽¹⁾ A person high in ease of match with regard to role preferences, for example, has a set of specific role preferences that are similar to those of a large percentage of available other-sex individuals. The ease of match (EM) was calculated for each individual item in the two areas (i.e., leisure interests and role performance) and then aggregated using the following formula:

Em_avg = {[P(m)₁] + [P(m)₂] + . . . . [P(m)_N]} / N

where P(m)_N refers to the proportion of individuals of the other sex who exactly match (m) an individual's preference on a particular item (with response categories collapsed into 3 categories), and N equals the number of items being aggregated (50 for leisure interests and 26 for role performance preferences). The correlaion between the ease of match in leisure interests and the ease of match in role performance preferences was extremely low (for men: r = .12, ns; for women r = .06, ns), indicating the likelihood of finding a match in leisure interests was unrelated to the likelihood of finding a match in role peformance preferences (Houts et al., 1996)

Thus, a person who is high in "ease of match" ought to be more similar to his or her partner, on average, apart from any preference for homogamy, strictly due to chance chance factors. This same kind of correction, which is described in more detail in the "PAIR Project Guide to Scales and their Construction," ought to be considered for research that focused on establishing that homogamy results from endogomous preferences rather than from chance factors.

1. The degrees of liking and disliking for leisure activities -- very much, somewhat, or a little -- were collapsed, creating three categories: (1)activities liked, activities disliked, and activities about which the individual felt indifferent. The three categories for role preferences consisted of tasks the person felt were primarily the husband's responsibility, that the person felt should be done all or most of the time by the wife, and those the individual felt should be shared equally.

This page created & maintained by Shanna Smith, ella@utxsvs.cc.utexas.edu